


Crimson Day

by Kristalette



Category: BioShock Infinite
Genre: Character Death, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff, Happy Ending, Self-Hatred, Sortof, Spoilers, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-04 09:13:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14017038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kristalette/pseuds/Kristalette
Summary: Just a little something I wrote to make me feel better about the ending. They deserve a happily ever after.





	Crimson Day

**Author's Note:**

> The End of BioShock Infinite did not feel complete to me. It was too open ended. I demand an ending, damn it! And I demand some happy after all the shit they went through. Growing up with an absent father left me broken, I identified strongly with Elizabeth. One of us oughta know what a good dad feels like. Strays a bit from the ending but I took some creative license considering there were infinite possibilities at the end of the game. Also, for the sake of clarity I kept Elizabeth's name as Elizabeth, I did not switch her name back to Anna. That was a creative choice as well.

The hands on Booker’s arms were warm, contrasting to the water in the lake. It was like ice over his feverish skin, the knowledge of what had been done and what must be to put things right, weighed heavily on his shoulders.

 

He took one last breath. A look a the sky. A look at his… daughter.

 

Guilt lacerated through his core. He deserved this. He would never be able to set this right, not really. He knew their lives were tainted because of his actions.

 

This would be his grave. And it was less than he deserved.

 

Elizabeth’s eyes softened immeasurably as though she knew what he was thinking. He closed his eyes against the tender look and wondered briefly what expression he had made. He didn’t deserve her forgiveness.

 

“Alright.” he breathed, his voice ragged, and his heart thundering in his chest. “Do it.”

 

He didn’t struggle as he was submerged, it was only when his breath ran out and his heart quickened that he fought against the hands weighing him down. _Oh god…_ he didn’t want to die here.

 

As quickly as the thought passed his vision faded, his lungs were on fire and his heart slowed.

 

Darkness… infinite and tangible. He couldn’t tell if it was around him or if he had simply become part of it. After a time a flash of blinding white light assutled his senses without warning.

 

XXX

 

Booker woke with a start in his bed, screaming and clutching his chest, gasping for the air filling his lungs. His self preservation was only usurped by one thing. The knowledge of his daughter. “Eliza-beth?” He said slowly. Surely she hadn’t saved him? Surely she hadn’t let him live? His death was the only thing that could set everything right! He didn’t know if he could possibly got through it again.

 

“Elizabeth!” or this was hell? His own personal hell for everything he’d done?

 

 _“Elizabeth!”_ he tore off the bed and bolted for the door on the other end of the room. He threw it open to find…

 

Elizabeth. In the crib. As an infant.

 

His baby…

 

He had his baby back.

 

but… How?

 

Had Elizabeth… done this?

 

His whole body shook as he leaned over the crib, Elizabeth was sleeping. Her seashell pink eyelids closed, her rosy cheeks relaxed, her tiny hands clutched around a rattle. She was so perfect, so beautiful. As the thought struck him he felt himself begin to cry. How could he have ever given her up?

 

She looked so like Anna…

 

His vision blurred and he ran rough fingers over his daughter's wispy black hair. She squirmed but needed the rest, he supposed, because she didn't wake.

 

A horrid feeling tore through him as he glance at her hands. Her pinky, he realised, was unmarred. Perfect, tiny, and soft. Exactly as it was meant to be.

 

Had it all been a dream? A horrible nightmare birthed of his subconscious? A floating city did seem far fetched. As did one based underwater… but no… the pain had been real. It all couldn't have been a dream, could it?

 

He tucked his daughter under the blanket and ran his hand over her belly. She was so tiny… so real. It was grounding, since he felt he couldn't decipher what _was_ real anymore.

 

Something tucked in the rim of the crib, between the bars and the mattress, caught his eye. It was an envelope, he plucked it from the crib and studied it. The wax seal was the one he had recognised as Elizabeth’s, the bird inside a cage.

 

With hands that shook anew he popped the seal and removed the letter. The text was elegant, flowing, and proper, which didn’t surprise Booker in the slightest. He expected nothing less from Elizabeth.

 

 ** _~~Mr.~~_ ** ~~**_Dewitt_ ** **_,_**~~

**_Booker,_ **

**_I don't have much time as I am one of the last Elizabeths to fade. I needed you to know why I did this. And that I didn’t have to. The simple answer is: I wanted to._ **

 

**_And yes, I planned it from the moment I tapped into my true power. I wanted to apologize for the amount of time it took me to get this timeline just right, maybe you didn’t notice, but it felt much too long. There were a few Comstocks, in a few timelines, that weaseled out of their fate and would have undoubtedly undone all my hard work. I couldn’t allow that. I needed a clean slate for this to work as I would never again get another chance to put things on the correct course._ **

 

**_Booker, I’ve given you one last chance. I’ve given us both one last chance. Please don’t squander it. Though perhaps my warning is unneeded. You remember the consequences, I’ll make sure of that._ **

 

 **_My motives are not entirely selfless. Booker, I deserve a normal childhood. I_ ** **want** **_to grow up with my dad. I want another shot at this. Please. Keep this letter as a reminder, but don’t tell me what happened. I don’t know if I’ll remember any of this. But if I forget, I’ll consider it a blessing. This is the last gift I can give you._ **

 

**_The last gift I can give us both._ **

 

**_All my love,_**

**_Elizabeth._**

 

Booker stumbled back, he numbly registered his back hitting the wall and his legs giving out underneath him. It _was_ real. And Elizabeth…. Had wiped the slate clean. Fixed everything so that the two of them could have a real future. He’d never felt so blessed. He didn’t deserve the mercy, not in his eyes, but she did.

 

He breathed deep and leaned his head against the wall, relishing in his newfound future.

 

“I will, Elizabeth. I promise not to waste this.” His vow was tangible to him as stone.

 

As the brand on the back of his hand...

 

XXX

 

Years passed and Elizabeth grew into the lovely young lady he had known she’d be. And while Booker couldn’t provide her with the nicest home, or most expensive clothes, she was resilient and happy. She asked for little. A doll here, a book there. But mostly, she supported him through the rough times. The times when he felt his debt would crush them both.

 

Somehow they always managed to stay ahead, a saving grace job always was around the corner.

 

She was wiser than her years, even as a child, giving him just the right words to allow him to keep moving forward.

 

The nightmares still consumed him in waves. Months of terrors in his dreams then brief reprieves. Which drove him to drink more than he cared to admit. But he never crossed the line. He refused to let himself fail after fighting for so long.

 

He was grateful Elizabeth hadn’t retained her memories. It really was a new start for them. Though he still wished he had known if she had ever truly forgiven him. He wanted her forgiveness in his later years like he craved nothing else. But he was content that he had his daughter and that she had still been a fine woman, in spite of having him for a father.

 

Sometimes he wondered though if she truly had remembered some if not all of their time together. And he found himself almost asking, remembering the letter however, he held his tongue. He kept his promise well… and yet… he still had to wonder.

 

His suspicions were finally laid to rest one summer day when Elizabeth was sixteen, and they had traveled to the fair for her birthday. It was the only time she had ever fervently begged for something, and upon seeing the object of her affection, Booker froze.

 

“Look at this! It’s amazing! The bird is beautiful and the cage is somber but there is really something special about it!” Elizabeth exclaimed.

 

Those words echoed through Booker’s mind, causing his flesh to run with sweat and his throat to close in panic. The cameo depicted the bird inside the cage that he had seen all those years ago. Though back then there had been two different pins, hadn’t there?

 

“Please, daddy! Please! Can I get it?”

 

Booker couldn’t find his voice and he quickly glanced around, scouting for any immediate threats. There were none, simply people laughing and enjoying the fair.

 

“Dad?”

 

He met Elizabeth’s puzzled eyes and nodded, not yet able to use his voice.

 

She embraced him with a squeal and placed the cameo pin on the ribbon she already had on her neck. “I love it!”

 

Booker paid for the trinket while she did a little turn and placed her fingertips to her collarbones, much in the way she had done once before. “What do you think, Mr. Dewitt?” She asked proudly.

 

Booker blinked, not entirely sure he had heard her right. His mind was back in Columbia, afterall, the place of his nightmares. “W-what?”

 

Elizabeth laughed and shook her head, “I said: ‘What do you think, dad?’”

 

“You said ‘dad’?”

 

He arms dropped to her sides and her eyebrows furrowed. “Of course I said ‘dad’. What else would I call you?”

 

He had been hearing things… hadn’t he?

 

He shook his head and took one of her hands, the right one, and kissed her pinky. She had long since gotten used to the gesture and for a brief moment he could have sworn she sighed, “I forgive you.”

 

But it was in his head. It was alway in his head.

 

Except on this day she put her other hand to his cheek and repeated it, loudly.

 

“Booker. I forgive you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Crimson Day - Avenged Sevenfold.


End file.
